Minimal-order observers for locating leaks in a pipeline with a branch

摘要

This article introduces a novel method to locate leaks in trunk pipelines with a unique branch.The method is based on three state observers; each one with a specific assigned task.The aim of the firststate observer (the orientation observer) is to indicate whether the leak is to the left (upstream) or to theright (downstream) of the branch. Depending on the indication of the orientation observer, one of theother two state observers (the locating observers) can be used to estimate the position of the leak.Thethree observers are based on second-order models that were built from the so-called rigid water columnmodel of a pipeline and hydraulic gradient relations.